The Massachusetts Institute of ­Technology (MIT) is preparing to ­disrupt the prevailing global model of higher education with a massive ­expansion of its online courses which it would sell to other universities through licence agreements.

A new internal report has also urged MIT to “engage in bold experiments” with its undergraduate program to ensure the university continues to be a world leader “at a time of ­disruptive change”.

A key part of the plan is to leverage off MIT’s reputation for prestige and ­quality and market the courses under the MITx brand, which is already used to offer MIT material as massive open online courses (MOOCs).

The report envisages the MITx online courses would be used – both by MIT and by other universities – in place of lectures.

This so called “blended learning” approach allows students to spend time, which would otherwise be used in lectures, in group work and ­discussion under the guidance of an instructor to give them a deeper ­understanding of the material.

Other universities that buy MITx courses are likely to save costs, and also associate themselves with the ­prestigious MIT name.

“Similar to the ‘Intel Inside’ ­campaign of the 1990s, in which Intel ­provided the processors for consumer computers, ‘MITx inside’ might serve as the foundation for classes being taught in a blended fashion at colleges and ­universities around the world,” the report said. It pointed to a successful experiment in 2012 in which San Jose University used an MIT online material to teach its Introduction to Circuit ­Analysis class in a “blended classroom”, meaning students learnt from video lectures and the lecturer devoted most of the class time to group work and problem solving.

“Pass rates increased from 55 per cent of students in conventional classes to 91 per cent of students in the blended class,” the report said. It urged MIT to set up more such experiments with other universities.

The taskforce recommends “need-based pricing” of the online courses offered to other universities, or setting up a fund to support the scheme.

It also looks at offering students a mini-qualification, often called a badge, for completing small units of learning. It said this would match the increasing desire of employers to hire people for their specific competencies, rather than on the strength of a full degree.

The report says there is “untapped potential” to offer certification for such learning.

It also canvassed major changes to MIT’s undergraduate teaching, ­including introducing blended learning using the same online courses the paper proposed selling to other ­universities.

MIT has a head start in online ­learning, beginning with its program begun over a decade ago to make course notes available online, and more recently through its founding of major MOOC provider edX, in partnership with Harvard. The taskforce report was produced with input from MIT ­academic staff and students.